Icon Advisers Inc. Co. reduced its stake in shares of National Oilwell Varco (NYSE:NOV) by 40.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 95,500 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 66,100 shares during the period. Icon Advisers Inc. Co.’s holdings in National Oilwell Varco were worth $3,509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of NOV. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in National Oilwell Varco by 13.6% in the second quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,126 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in National Oilwell Varco by 1,441.6% in the third quarter. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,744 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 2,566 shares during the last quarter. WFG Advisors LP boosted its stake in National Oilwell Varco by 16.1% in the second quarter. WFG Advisors LP now owns 3,790 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co boosted its stake in National Oilwell Varco by 27.5% in the second quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co now owns 5,100 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $172,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evercore Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in National Oilwell Varco by 43.7% in the second quarter. Evercore Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,323 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $179,000 after buying an additional 1,618 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.75% of the company’s stock.

Shares of National Oilwell Varco (NYSE:NOV) traded down 1.73% during trading on Friday, reaching $35.72. 555,680 shares of the company traded hands. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $35.09 and its 200-day moving average is $33.94. The stock’s market capitalization is $13.49 billion. National Oilwell Varco has a 12-month low of $25.74 and a 12-month high of $38.55.

National Oilwell Varco (NYSE:NOV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 27th. The oil and gas exploration company reported ($0.34) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.28) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. National Oilwell Varco had a negative net margin of 38.90% and a negative return on equity of 0.71%. The business’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that National Oilwell Varco will post ($1.00) earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 30th. National Oilwell Varco’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -2.33%.

NOV has been the subject of a number of research reports. Johnson Rice upgraded National Oilwell Varco from a “hold” rating to an “accumulate” rating in a research note on Friday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of National Oilwell Varco in a research note on Friday, July 29th. Credit Suisse Group AG reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of National Oilwell Varco in a research note on Friday, July 29th. Jefferies Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of National Oilwell Varco in a research note on Monday, August 1st. Finally, Nomura set a $29.00 price target on National Oilwell Varco and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-one have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. The stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.67.

About National Oilwell Varco

National Oilwell Varco, Inc (NOV) is engaged in providing design, manufacture and sale of equipment and components used in oil and gas drilling, completion and production operations. The Company operates through four segments: Rig Systems, which makes and supports the capital equipment and integrated systems needed to drill oil and gas wells on land and offshore; Rig Aftermarket, which provides aftermarket products and services to support land and offshore rigs, and drilling rig components manufactured by the Company’s Rig Systems segment; Wellbore Technologies, which sells and rents solids control equipment, and provides solids control, waste management and drilling fluids services, and Completion & Production Solutions, which provides technologies for well completions and oil and gas production.